Drafting a unique resume is very significant for a job applicant to increase their chance of getting better jobs. So its importance cannot be ignored or overlooked. Dr. Devdat Kr., a professional resume strategist, shares his views why drafting a perfect resume is vital and how it helps candidates with their career growth.
Edited Excerpt of the Interview
Business Upside [BU]: What inspired you to become a Resume Strategist?
Dr. Devdat Kr. [DK]: As I majored in Human Resources subject in MBA Program, the story started after that only. I never got a job in HR. I was a man of undying spirit, questioned myself, what’s wrong with me, honestly speaking, yet to be answered. Still, one question haunted me: the search for talent for onboarding. This school of thought intrigued me on and on, and that transpired me towards the Recruitment industry. Here again, I was caught by the attention that candidates don’t get interview calls despite suitable candidature, which makes them devoid of good opportunities. I found poorly written Resume is the culprit, which gave birth to helping candidates articulate their professional strengths in an impactful and compelling manner. I took it as a personal calling, and the rest is history.
[BU]: What is your mission?
[DK]: Every human being is unique in this universe with some innate qualities, and time is at its premium. I want to help them understand that you possess some unique qualities & significant talents. You concentrate on the same and carve a niche for it. A resume is a medium through which I comprehend a candidate’s career journey and suggest corrective measures to climb the career ladder.
Seeing candidates grow in their career paths and reach their cherished dream gives me immense pleasure.
[BU]: How do you make people acknowledge their strengths?
[DK]: My modus operandi commences with the study of the candidate’s profile. After thorough study, I prepare pertinent queries for discussion, which are targeted towards the candidate’s contributions, risk appetite, turnaround scenario, scaling of the business, and business profitability, amongst others.
While having detailed discussions on the enterprise above subjects, I insist they be a master storyteller, and I listen patiently between the lines. And believe me, that’s a turning point where they realize their true worth, and it’s a revelation for them. That also makes them feel confident about the interview.
Thus when the final resume shapes up after several iterations, it’s a fantastic picturisation of self, a well-honed candidate ready to crack for his dream company.
[BU]: What, according to you, is the importance of a perfect resume for career growth?
[DK]: Of course, a compelling resume talks about the career profile, past and present of the career journey. Still, it also depicts the futuristic outlook of the candidate to the potential Recruiter, as all the possibilities or expectancies from the candidate can be gauged through the Resume.
Any Hiring process starts with shortlisting the paper, i.e., The Resume can be an overnight affair. You have to upgrade it continuously. Even at the last minute, you might add one or two salient points.
A good Resume is just like driving a car, as 95% of questions during the interview will be thrown from your Resume. Hence steering is in your hand, acceleration and break are under your control, sheer look at the path and reach your destination. But this can only be possible if you have gone deep-dive into the JD of the job vacancy and what they are scouting for in the candidate.
A good Resume indicates whether the candidate is upwardly mobile, agile, and capable of deciding at the minimum possible timescale, the kind of decision, the impact of the decision, embracing smart risk factors, hunger for more complex and complicated challenges, etc. A seasoned recruiter can feel or internalize these qualities to spot perfect talent through a Resume.
A Resume denotes the outlook or mental psyche of the candidate, irrespective of family background, starting from solid command over language, choice of words, translating of thoughts into words, etc., as that shows you are coming from where.
A resume is an anthology of your professional deeds, hence its presentation, presentation, and presentation. It will grab the reader’s attention at the minimum possible time and keep him intact to scroll till the end.
The value of knowledge is more essential and supreme than services and execution, which a candidate has served in his career in several companies as business rest on knowledge and quality. Therefore a Resume is a perfect document to reflect the nuggets of wisdom that can be shared and contributed for betterment.
A Document called a Resume is the ultimate test of your deep-dive understanding of your domain knowledge, managerial acumen, technological excellence, or operational efficiency. Hence fluke, shallow, or goofing words have no place here.
A Resume is just not writing about accomplishments, pause for a while, do some introspection spend just one or two sentences synthesizing that whole career experience and what you have become, and that’s called thought leadership.
Shortlisting of the Resume is done in the absence of the candidate, an interview is taken with the candidate, and the final decision is taken for hiring again taken in the absence of the candidate. Thus, a Resume is the only document as witnesses throughout the onboarding process; thus, it’s a passport for success.
[BU]: How would you describe your innate passion for motivating and inspiring people?
[DK]: Inculcating the maxims like “I’m the best,” “Because you’re worth it,” and “You have the calibre go ahead and grab it” are very necessary for success. Thus I am not merely a Resume writer but a career strategist as well because you got to motivate & empower them that, yes, you can do it.
It gives me tremendous satisfaction doing career turnaround. Seeing a candidate’s success is the biggest prize. I pose as a Resume Doctor, as they come with their problems and look for resolve. Earning Goodwill is priceless.
[BU]: What are the two things a job applicant should keep in mind?
[DK]: The First and foremost thing is his current job scope; through this, any potential Recruiter will gauge the area of command he is practicing. Therefore it asks for fine detailing and quite an elaborative mentioning.
The second important aspect is mentioning his best accomplishment, beside and beyond the call of duty. He must talk about extra mile gone or acting as a game changer, adding values, personal initiatives, team profile, thought leadership, power of envisioning, scaling the business’s exponential growth, creating a legacy in his tenure, some historic attempts, i.e., first timers, etc.
The above two points assist the recruiter in implanting a very formidable impression full of conviction about you, which means half the battle is won.
[BU]: How can job seekers create compelling resumes to answer challenging interview questions?
[DK]: Following are the points one should keep in mind while crafting a Resume, especially to encounter challenging interview questions.
- Showcase your strategy ideation & implementation capability vehemently in the resume with scalable business outcomes.
- Attaining aggressive business deadlines based on predetermined time commitments, and budgeted parameters, with a high level of quality and diverse stakeholders.
- Fostering Teamwork- Development of high-performance teams through rigorous goal-setting, disciplined attention to performance metrics, continuous process and mentorship
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership- orchestrating interdisciplinary teams to build alliances across the organization.
- Creating a significant & sustainable Enduring value chain to bring differentiation to business
- Business Turnaround & culture change
- Thought Leadership- High degree of Inclusive leadership
- Aiding in strategic critical business decisions
[BU]: How can job seekers make their resumes stand out in interviews by adding value?
[DK]: The common problem with which candidates come to me is that they are unable to articulate their achievements. Hence having lucid language, and clarity in written communication has got a direct impact on the IQ of the candidate.
Quantification of the statement is the first commandment may be in the form of percentage or 2X or 4X, mentioning the true figure for financials is not ethical.
Start your narration with current charter, followed by initial challenges faced, how you forayed into strategic value chain deliverance, effecting in sustenance of scaling up business challenges and final touch off course would be awards & accolades.
First glance at your Resume plays a very vital role. A Resume should not be a lengthy one, maximum 2 page is more than sufficient to sum up your success saga. Also brevity should be maintained in words, otherwise Resume would be termed as verbose.
[BU]: What do you think is the worth of personal branding?
[DK]: For get through in the interview simply job knowledge or domain area know-how won’t suffice the purpose, you got to have some cherry on the cake i.e. your brand value, which need to be transpired while interview. This is an intangible aspect of your candidature which can only be felt or sensed by the people at the other side of the table and Personal Branding is discussed in the absence of candidate as image or lasting impression. It is such a powerful aspect, in fact it acts as a differentiator, hence one should be ready with his/ her brand attributes.
Personal branding is ultimate personal & private material which is very exclusive to us only it is in our hand to polish it to shine & dazzle.
[BU]: Having spent decades in the corporate world, what traits do you believe enable people to climb and excel at new heights in career growth?
[DK]: 1. Entrepreneurially-minded people thinking about opportunities. They declare war on procrastination because lions keep their eyes on the prize. Fighting with themselves mentally and strive to win unachievable targets as per their thought is their passion, showing themselves by achieving them.
Voracious appetite to continually learn and challenge the conventional and find the truth is what propel them. Having average to amazing attitude, audacity is the name of the game for them, they do not regret for past nor worry for future instead hold on the presence.
They are of growth mentality absolutely odd man out. They live in different stratosphere having urbane, suave and polished demeanour. They nurture their aspiration religiously throughout their life.
They always get attracted or triggered by a person who can really add value to them and they sniff success also they hate feedback, because too much feedback make them vulnerable, in fact they are lovers of making mistakes as it gives more learning lessons.
Since day one of joining the company, they function like company ambassadors, be it in the form of a guest speaker or the social media. They always add value to the talk and pose as subject matter experts
They always scale their effort continuously habitually make iconic decisions, they leave footprints on the sands of time. They are brutally honest in measuring their own performance and raising the bar every time.
They chase their dreams through the trails of exposure, it leads them to the top of world, and always they have got attractions for largeness of the size or volume which triggers excitedly again and again.
They hang out with people who are better than themselves as they have intense hunger for critical & invaluable insights, day and night they are in search of it. They are constantly doing R&D where and in which point they lack, comparative analysis and setting benchmark for themselves.
They are the deep students of strategies around them, they meticulously study each step of it, spend time on it, and observe them to grow and then see the fruit out of it. Very silently they harbour on formulating some specific kind of strategy, and then they enjoy the fruit of it.
They are habitual risk takers, they have reached thus far in their career graph only because of a lineage of one after another high risk-taking potential, and they have calculated high risk-taking potential.
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